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Moonroof + Cargo Box

You might be pleasantly surprised with a hitch mounted system. They actually have quite a few advantages over roof mounted that I personally enjoy...no effect on fuel economy, no added wind noise, easier to load/unload...to name a few. I would highly recommend over any rooftop box.

578047d1444074631-suv-towing-fullsizerender-3.jpg
Those are great. For me, if I have the roof box on the truck, there's a strong chance that I am either towing the pop-up or have the bikes on the back. So it's hard to make use of a system like that.
 



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Thanks I had a quick read.
Looks like those are the pre-2016's with raised roof rails...similar to what have on our current Murano.
Does anybody have any more experience with the 2016's.

I'm going to keep looking into this because 50lbs is nothing for weight! That's barely enough for a bike! Wondering why the non-moon roof is good for 100lbs...you'd think the engineers would reinforce it better!

I also just spoke with a rack shop. Thule is working on something and it should be available the next few weeks. The guy said Thule would definitely be able to handle more than 50lb. He figured because the ford ones were plastic.
 






You might be pleasantly surprised with a hitch mounted system. They actually have quite a few advantages over roof mounted that I personally enjoy...no effect on fuel economy, no added wind noise, easier to load/unload...to name a few. I would highly recommend over any rooftop box.

578047d1444074631-suv-towing-fullsizerender-3.jpg

Does the hitch-mounted box impede backup sensors or cause them to alarm whenever you back up?
 






Does the hitch-mounted box impede backup sensors or cause them to alarm whenever you back up?

Yes, if you mind the beeping, then you have to turn them off.
 






Hope this doesn't cause us any issues with our 2016 we've ordered.

We have a Thule Atlantis 1600xt box we used on family trips with our 2011 Murano. We also had the Thule Aero blades that clamped onto the roof rails. The 2016 Explorers now have flush-mount rails so the Thule bars won't work anymore!

We ordered the Ford roof rack with our explorer...It better f-ing work or I'll be pissed!!:mad:

Wouldn't be the end of the world if I couldn't open the sunroof with the box, but wouldn't be very happy if I couldn't use the box at all!!!

Does Thule make a cross bar that would "hold the box up higher"? Last I checked they were "still working on it" they don't make anything at all right now due to the flush rails.
A little late to the party. Just a reminder that the maximum weight you can carry if you have the moonroof is 45 lbs. This is new in the 2016 Manual.

The maximum recommended load, evenly
distributed on the crossbars, is:
• 100 lb (45 kg) for vehicles without a moonroof.
• 45 lb (20 kg) for vehicles with a moonroof.

Peter
 






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